Type of Incident 

Date of Incident(s)

March 15th 2015

Incident Location

(Village, Township and District)

Kyaw Kay Koh village, Noh Ta Kaw Township, Dooplaya District.

Victim Information

Name

Saw Thaw Nyay

Age

47

Sex

Male

Ethnicity 

Karen

Family   

Married

Occupation

Odd jobs

Religion

Buddhist

Position

Villager

Village

Kyaw Kay Koh

Perpetrator Information

Name(s)           

Rank

Unit

Base

Commander’s Name

Saw Hey Thaw

Villager

Not soldier

Born in Kyaw Kay Koh and Married in Plaw Hpa Htaw

Villager

1. Explain in detail how you collected this information.

On March 15th 2015, around 9:23 PM, when Saw Thaw Nyay and his youngest son [who is] seven years old were home alone, he [Saw Thaw Nyay] was shot by Saw Hey Thaw using a KNU/KNLA-PC[3] AK-47 gun.  He was hit in his neck and [the bullet] went out through the other side [of his neck].

2. Explain how the source verified this information.

Village tract leader Saw Bleh Dah gave me the information because the incident happened close to his house. After the occurrence, he called for an investigation, and as he is the village tract leader, the information is true.

Describe the Incident(s) in complete detail. For each incident, be sure to include 1) when the incident happened, 2) where it happened, 3) what happened, 4) how it happened, 5) who was involved, and 6) why it happened. Also describe any villager response(s) to the incident, the aftermath and the current living situation of the victims. Please use the space prepared below, and create an attachment if needed.

On March 15th 2015, around 9:23 PM, a villager named Saw Thaw Nyay, 47 years old, was shot by a gun. There were five people involved in this case, and they are: Saw Hey Thaw, Saw Maung Kya, Saw Aye Phu, Saw Baw K'Shu and Saw Tay Meh. These five people were led by Saw Hey Thaw and planned to assassinate Saw Thaw Nyay as they claimed that he has the ability of practicing witchcraft, being capable of killing someone with the power of black magic. At that time, Saw Hey Thaw was living in Plaw Hpa Htaw village and he asked for a gun from KNU/KNLA-PC Battalion #710 Company #4, led by Company Commander Kyo Kler. As he asked for the gun from an unknown KNU/KNLA-PC soldier, they just gave him the gun without questioning anything, [and without asking] about the purpose for which he wanted [the gun]. After the incident, the village tract leader, village head, and vice village head, and [the person in charge of] security gathered together to investigate the case. After two days [of investigating] they found out the [details of the] problem [murder case], so they immediately submitted it to the superior court [referring to the Dooplaya district KNU court] to take action against the perpetrators. From March 15th to 19th, they [the village tract leaders] set up security for the community [hired guards to protect the community and arrest the perpetrators of the murder] and now Saw Hey Thaw had been arrested and handed over to the police, and four of his friends were [also] arrested. Saw Thaw Nyay, who was killed, was known as a quiet person, clean from unlawful acts and with no criminal record. Among those who [were complicit in] killing Saw Thaw Nyay was Saw Maung Kya, whose child was sick for five to six years and had died in the hospital because of blood cancer, which could no longer be cured. As Saw Maung Kya loved his child very much, he went to a fortune teller called Thara[4] S--- to tell him what had happened to his child and the fortune teller said to [Saw] Maung Kya, "Your son died by black magic". At that time, Saw Maung Kya lived close to Saw Thaw Nyay and they were neighbours, so he accused Saw Thaw Nyay of doing it [killing his child with black magic]. For this reason, he asked Saw Hey Thaw to kill Saw Thaw Nyay.

Did the victim(s) provide permission to use this information? Explain how that permission was provided.

An eyewitness, Saw Bleh Dah, allowed us to use the information, and suggested that leaders [of any kind] be careful [when] handling armed soldiers who are holding guns and [asked] any person who acts as a fortune teller not to decide [or suggest] to hand a gun to someone else [so] easily. Any leader who has authority should be aware of this kind of incident and carefully consider reminding and ensuring every single soldier is careful and does not give or create problems among civilians.